SAN ANTONIO, TX (April 30, 2026) –

 Approximately one month remains in the race for 2025-26 Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia. This season continues to be one of the most tightly contested races in recent years. The University of Montevallo holds a lead of more than 3,500 points over 2^nd ranked Carson-Newman University, and the University of North Alabama jumps two places to be ranked 3^rd.

This latest points update is highlighted by event results from both the MLF and Bassmaster College Series. Each of these major events provided college bass fishing teams with a chance to move up in the standings as one month remains in this season. 4^th – 10^th are now separated by less than 3,000 points, and 11^th – 16^th are also approximately 3,000 points apart. Each event down the stretch will be extremely crucial as schools look to accumulate as many points as possible to count towards college fishing’s only all-encompassing National Rankings system.

Prior to this points update, top ranked Montevallo led Carson-Newman by 3,275 points. That lead has now grown to 3,555 points following numerous points eligible events being contested. Montevallo earned the most points of any school to compete at the Bassmaster College Series event at Santee Cooper.  Brody Robison & Peyton Sorrow finished in 2^ndand Tucker McCoy & Connor Bell placed 3^rd. Those two Top 3 finishes earned Montevallo a total of 2,470 points.

The University of Montevallo has been on a tear this spring. Since the first major tournament in 2026, they’ve placed two teams in the Top 10 at 7 out of those 8. In the one event where they did not achieve two Top 10 teams, their two highest finishers were in 2^ndand 13^th. In that stretch, they’ve accumulated two victories, and twice their two top teams finished 2^nd & 3^rd.

Carson-Newman and Montevallo are the two teams out at the front of the pack currently. In that same stretch highlighted above, Carson-Newman competed in seven events. For three out of the seven tournaments, they placed their two highest-finishing teams inside of the Top 10. While both Carson-Newman and Montevallo competed at the MLF College Series tournament at Table Rock, that event did not count for either program as they’d both already competed in the maximum of three MLF events eligible for points.

After falling to 5^th in the previous update, UNA surged back up to 3^rd. The team from Florence, AL earned 1,600 points at the MLF tournament on Table Rock while Lander and Emmanuel both did not earn points in this update. UNA is currently 8,150 points behind Montevallo, and 4,595 points behind Carson-Newman.

Take a look at teams that made significant moves inside of the Top 25 for the Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia.

6) Adrian College – Previously Ranked 7^th

12) Drury University – Previously Ranked 15^th

20) Catawba Valley C.C. – Previously Ranked 22^nd

23) Erskine College – Previously Ranked 25^th

Click here to view the complete updated rankings.